Hoist chain guide



' Jan. 28, 1969 T. E. GREGO 3,424,436

HOIST CHAIN GUIDE Filed Sept. 21, 1967 INVENTOR THOMAS E. GREGO- ATTORNEY United States Patent O r 3,424,436. v HOIST CHAIN GUIDE Thomas E. Grego, Waverly, N.Y., assignor to Ingersoll- Rand Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey 7 Filed Sept. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 669,522 US. Cl. 254-190 Int. Cl. B66d 1/36 4 Claims UABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hoist chain guide including a guide body containing a cruciform shaped bore receiving the chain and mounted on a coil spring which allows the guide body to resiliently tilt, twist and move 'to automatically clear kinks and other tangles in the chain as it flows through the guide body. The spring is'mounted on the .hoist frame or casing so the guide body is resiliently supported relative to the hoist casing. I

Background of invention Summary of invention The principal object of this invention is to provide a chain guide and straightener that substantially overcomes the problem of the chain entering the hoist with an improper orientation.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a hoist chain guide which automatically and quickly removes tangles, kinks and twists from a chain as it flows through the chain guide.

In general, these objects are attained by mounting a chain guide body on a support with a resilient flexible interconnection extending between the body and the support and parallel to the chain. The flexible resilient interconnection supports the guide body so that it is free to tilt, move toward or away from, twist about its axis and move laterally relative to the support. This manner of mounting the guide body enables it to automatically and quickly straighten the chain as it flows through the chain guide.

Brief description of drawing The invention is described in connection with the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a chain hoist using the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the chain guide of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical elevation of the hoist with parts being shown in section illustrating the chain passing through the chain guide and entering the hoist; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 illustrating a chain knot or tangle of such severity that it has caused the chain guide to shut off the hoist.

Patented Jan. 28, 1969 "ice The drawing shows in FIG. 1 a conventional hoist 1 including a supporting hook 2, for suspending the hoist 1 from an overhead support, a hoist casing 3 containing a motor (not shown), a drive mechanism (not shown) and a chain sprocket (not shown). The chain sprocket supports a hoist chain 5 carrying a load hook 6 at one end. The hoist motor is connected by a linkage (not .shown) to a control arm 7 surrounding the hoist chain 5. The motor is shut off when the control arm 7 is pushed upward to the position shown in FIG. 4.

The chain guide 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes a guide body 11 containing a bore 12 having a cruciform shape and dimensioned to slidably surround the hoist chain 5. The guide body 11 is attached on one end of a helically coiled spring 14. The other end of the spring 14 is attached to the hoist casing 3 by means of a pair of brackets 15. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the chain guide 10 surrounds the hoist chain 5 whereby the chain slidably travels through the chain guide 10 as it is moved up or down by the hoist 1.

As the chain 5 flows through the chain guide 10, the cruciform shaped bore 12 forces the chain 5 to conform to a specific orientation. Since the chain 5 cannot enter the bore 12 in a kinked, knotted or twisted manner, the bore 12 probably will do the full job of orientating the chain 5.

When the chain 5 attempts to enter the bore 12 in'a kinked or twisted manner, the kink or twisted link will apply pressure to the guide body 11 and compress the spring 14. I have found that as the spring 14 is compressed, the guide body 11 will automatically tilt or twist in the proper direction for the kink or twisted link to align itself and conform to the bore 12 wherein it is properly orientated to enter the hoist. Normally, I have found that this automatic orientation of the hoist chain occurs extremely rapidly without the spring 14 being substantially compressed, or twisted.

Occasionally, a knot or severe tangle in the chain-5 may attempt to enter the hoist which cannot be easily cleared by the chain guide 10. If this occurs, it will apply pressure to the guide body 11 and drag the guide body 11 upwardly to compress the coil spring 14.

The guide body 11 carries a pair of wings 16 adapted to engage the control 7 when the guide body 11 is dragged upwardly by the hoist chain 5. If the guide body is dragged upwardly sufliciently far, the wings 16 will push the control arm 7 to the motor shut off position as shown in FIG. 4. This lifting of the control arm 7 will stop the hoist before anything can be damaged. Once the chain jam is overcome, the chain guide 10 will automatically return to its proper position wherein the hoist can resume operation.

It w1ll be understood that although only one embodiment of the invention is s ecifically described, the invention may embrace other embodiments which are obvious from an understanding of the described embodiment and are embraced within the claims of the invention.

I claim:

1. A chain guide device for use on a hoist or the like, comprising:

a hollow guide body containing an internal opening having walls shaped to conform to and guide a chain extending through said opening;

a resilient flexible means having one end fixed to one side of said guide body to extend generally parallel with a portion of the chain extending from said body; and

mounting means attached to the other end of said resilient flexible means and arranged to be fixed to a support for holding said resilient flexible means and said guide body in a cantilever manner whereby said engage a second member when said coil spring is guide body is free to tilt angularly relative to said compressed apredetermined amount;

mounting means, to move toward or away from said said second member being operative to stop the feedmounting means and to move laterally and rotatably ing of the chain when engaged by said first member. relative to said mounting means for straightening 5 kinks, twists, tangles and other fouled portions of References Cited the chain as it attempts to flow through said guide UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,458,354 6/1923 Neller 254-167 2. The chain guide device of claim 1 wherein:

said opening walls are shaped to provide a cruciform 10 3376756 4/1968 Yasue 254' 167 EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

3. The chain gulde device of claim 2 wherein:

said resilient flexible means is a helical coil spring HORNSBY Asslsmnt Exammerwhich coils around said chain. US CL XR' 4. The chain guide device of claim 3 wherein: 15

said guide body includes a first member adapted to 254 167 

